Hashtag the World is pleased to announce the formal release of their new study report that ranks the top thirty most hashtagged cities all over the world in 2016. This comprehensive study was conducted to have an in-depth understanding of the consistent growth of Instagram and hashtags in the travel industry.

In its second year, the study by Hashtag the World reflects a significant growth rate in Instagram usage all over the world. Interestingly, this is the only study conducted to find out the world’s most frequently hashtagged cities. Started in 2014, Hashtag the World is an Amsterdam-based organization that helps their clients discover, curate and display their Instagram content in many different ways. The company also assists clients in matters related to marketing on Instagram.

The popularity of different social media platforms was phenomenal over the last few years. According to a recent survey, 97% of the millennials share pictures while travelling, especially on Instagram. A creative community leveraging the power of visual storytelling, Instagram has now become the most preferred alternative for people to share their positive experiences. With more than 600 million active users as of now, over 40 billion photos have been shared till date by the Instagram users. The number of photos and images shared via Instagram per day is a whopping 95 million. Also, around 50% of the brands have now started using Instagram for business.

Discussing the growing importance of Instagram for travel, the founder of Hashtag the World Lucas Ribeiro says, “Instagram is a powerful tool for the travel industry as its 600 million users love to share their beautiful pictures about their holidays and exploring their own city. It gives great opportunities for business on Instagram.”

The report published by Hashtag the World identifies New York City as the world’s number one hashtagged city in 2016 with over 68 million posts and a growth rate of 79% compared to the previous year. The other cities ranked within the top five are London, Paris, Dubai, and Istanbul. The report also shows that Los Angeles, Tokyo, Las Vegas, San Diego, Rome, Atlanta, and Rio de Janeiro have experienced an annual growth of over 100% in terms of hashtag usage.

“We can clearly see that the Olympics had an impact on the growth in ranking with #RiodeJaneiro and #Tokyo,” says Lucas.